frugivorous

[ froo-jiv-er-uhs ]

adjective

fruit-eating, as certain bats.

Origin of frugivorous

First recorded in 1705–15; from Latin frūgi-, combining form of frūx “fruit, crops, produce” + combining form -vorus “devouring”; see origin at frugal, -vorous

Words Nearby frugivorous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use frugivorous in a sentence

Burgos and her collaborators concluded that the lynx has kept these frugivorous carnivores on the move and is likely affecting how they disperse pear seeds.
The curious case of an endangered wildcat and a disappearing fruit tree | April Reese | August 3, 2022 | Popular-Science
Their diet is essentially a frugivorous one; yet they will occasionally indulge in a lizard or two, or any other reptile.
The Desert World | Arthur Mangin
In many frugivorous animals, the canine teeth are more pointed and distinct than those of man.
Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages | William Andrus Alcott
The ourang-outang is the most anthropomorphous of the ape tribe, all of which are strictly frugivorous.
Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages | William Andrus Alcott
Man poisons himself with mushrooms, frugivorous animals never.
Decadence and Other Essays on the Culture of Ideas | Remy de Gourmont

Cuvier places them after the Bats, but they seem properly to link the Lemurs and the frugivorous Bats.
Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon | Robert A. Sterndale

British Dictionary definitions for frugivorous

frugivorous

/ (fruːˈdʒɪvərəs) /

adjective

feeding on fruit; fruit-eating

Origin of frugivorous

C18: from frugi- (as in frugal) + -vorous

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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